title: 7:31
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH ON LJ! 2012
rating: T-M
summary: oo9: Sasuke wants to impress Sakura. Even if it means embracing a new 'do with the help of the love guru, Naruto.
REVISED 6.30.14
.oo9.
Bravado
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke said as he took in Naruto's "advice." "I'm not going to do that! Not even for her!"
"Come on, Sasuke. You're a wimp. By doing this, you show her that you're super amazing and that everybody loves you and that you could have any girl you want, yet you decide to choose her."
"I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not!" Sasuke replied as Naruto crossed his arms angrily.
Naruto whined. "All you need to do is restyle your hair, and just wear these clothes for a while. Alright?" He handed Sasuke a pile of clothes. Sasuke looked down at them.
"These look ridiculous."
"Yeah, but they're bound to get girls wet by the time they look at you. I'm pretty sure Sakura isn't an exception."
Sasuke held up the outfit in front of him, wincing. "You really think so?"
"Definitely. Oh, and you need a personality change. Have you heard of something called swag?"
.
.
.
Sakura was staring at her vocabulary book, muttering to herself.
"What kind of a word is bravado?" she said as she looked through her English-Japanese dictionary. "Hm. Bravado. A bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate. Huh." She copied the definition in her notebook when she saw someone coming towards her.
"S-Sasuke-kun? Is that you?"
Sasuke didn't look directly at her. His face was a little red, probably from the heat, and instead of the school uniform, he wore a black T-shirt underneath another purple shirt with the collar popped up. He also had on some obscenely green pants and sandals, while donning jingly bracelets and a necklace.
"Yeah."
"W-What is this?" Sakura asked, motioning to his clothes.
"A new look."
Sakura could see the other girls on campus swoon over Sasuke, giggling and pointing and blushing at his new look. "I LOVE YOU, SASUKE-KUN!" was shouted out from many different angles of the school.
Naruto was right, Sasuke said. But the only girl who isn't impressed is Sakura.
"Oh." Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Cool."
"Thanks."
She didn't say that she liked it, but she didn't hate it either.
"I'm going to go. See you later, Sasuke-kun."
Wait! He wanted to say. Instead, he nodded. "See you."
"Shit," he cursed. "That didn't work out."
He walked back to his dorm in the way Naruto told him to walk: with "swag." If swag meant pulling his pants low and walking like a moron, then he had it.
.
.
.
"How'd it go?" Naruto asked as Sasuke opened the door to their dorm. He plopped down on the bed, his bracelets jingling.
"You suck," Sasuke said. "She didn't seem interested at all."
"Did you show her the temporary tattoo tramp-stamp we put on you?" he asked. "Cuz that's sure to make her wild for you."
Sasuke glared at Naruto, who immediately backed off. "Whoa, okay. Cool down. Fine. Don't show her the tramp-stamp."
"I really like her, Naruto."
"I think she likes you, too."
"Yeah? What makes you think that?" Sasuke said, lifting himself with his forearm.
Naruto sat down across from Sasuke. "Well, for starters, you're the only guy she addresses as —kun."
"Point taken."
"She smiles a lot when she's near you."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She does that to everybody."
"Yeah, but mostly for you."
"Fine. What else?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto didn't say anything. "I can't think of anything else. But I know that she likes you. I'm 99% sure. Trust me on this."
"I can't trust you with anything after this," Sasuke said, motioning to his clothes.
"I'm the love guru, though! So last time. Trust me this once, and you never have to trust me again."
"Fine." Sasuke hopped off his bed. "I'm going to go find her again."
"Have fun!" Naruto shouted. "BE SAFE!"
.
.
.
"Oh! Sasuke! What a surprise. I was actually coming to find you," Sakura said as she bumped into Sasuke. She noticed how he was still wearing his flashy clothes.
"Me too," he said. "But you go first."
Before he saw Sakura, he was full of bravado until she said she wanted to say something. Now he was almost cowering.
"I, uh, want to ask you something," she said, looking down at her feet shyly. "Well, uh…are you busy on Sunday? Because, you know, some of the girls near my dorms are holding this party, and…"
"I'd love to," Sasuke said. Sakura looked up in delight.
"Really? Oh, that's fantastic!" she then quieted down in embarrassment. "So, what were you going to say?"
Sasuke opened his mouth. "I, uh, just wanted to tell you that I…like you."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"That's such a relief. Because I like you, too! No matter what you're wearing! But I like you more when you're, uh, wearing your uniform."
"Me too. So, I'll…pick you up on Sunday?"
"Sunday," she confirmed. "Well. Bye, Sasuke-kun."
He watched as she walked back down the hallway. Then, he looked down at his clothes and groaned, before walking back to his dorm and changing them.
"How'd it go?" Naruto asked, putting down his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.
Sasuke smirked, taking a pen from his desk and marking a big red circle on Sunday.
"What do you think?"
Naruto shook his head, chuckling. "I told you, teme. I'm the love guru."
Slight changes!
